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October 27, 2010

Contents:
01. IRT Faculty Technology Showcase
02. Retention of Privileges Upon Separation from the University
03. Now Available: Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac
04. New Version of MATLAB Available
05. Adobe Acrobat X Pro Announced
06. Mac Workshop on "Scripting and Automation" Rescheduled for December 2
07. Camtasia for Faculty and Staff
08. Accessibility Series: Using the Ease of Access Center in Windows

Tips & Tricks

News & Notes from the Online Learning Team
15. Limitation of Assignment Cutoff Date in Bb Vista
16. Bb Vista's Power View Feature
17. Upload a Photo to Your Bb Vista Profile!
18. Clean Up Your Bb Vista Course List!
19. Sign Up for OLT Workshops

1. IRT Faculty Technology Showcase

IRT's Faculty Technology Showcase will take place on Friday, November 12, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm in Pearlstein 102. Held in conjunction with National Distance Learning Week, this annual event provides an opportunity for faculty members who are using technology in innovative ways to share their work with their colleagues.

If you would like to attend the Showcase, please go to http://www.drexel.edu/irt/News/events/showcase and click on the registration link. Lunch will be provided.

Call for Presentations

Faculty who are interested in presenting at the Showcase are invited to submit proposals. Please email a short description of your presentation topic and the technology you plan on showcasing to olt@drexel.edu. Any details about the format of the presentation (hands-on, lecture, etc.) would also be helpful. Presentations should be 45 minutes in length.

2. Retention of Privileges Upon Separation from the University

If you are a recent graduate or an employee who is thinking about moving on to other opportunities outside of Drexel, there are some things you should know about your Drexel accounts and privileges.

New graduates may keep their DrexelOne email account active for up to two years following graduation. When the account is closed, they may request long-term forwarding for their official email address. More information for new alumni can be found at http://www.drexel.edu/irt/accounts/goodbye/newAlumni.

Departing faculty members and students who do not register for a future term may typically keep their accounts for up to one year. Accounts for departing staff members are generally turned off within 30 days. More information can be found at http://www.drexel.edu/irt/org/policies/email/#continuance.

If you have questions or would like more information, please contact the Accounts Team at accounts@drexel.edu or 215-895-2020 or visit http://www.drexel.edu/irt/org/policies/email.

3. Now Available: Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac

For those of you who would like to explore Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac, it is now available for download at eAcademy's store for $10.16. To access eAcademy's store, log into the DrexelOne portal (http://one.drexel.edu), click the "drexel" tab, and click the eAcademy link in the "Hardware and Software" section.

Both Office 2010 for PC and 2011 for Mac will be available for download on IRT's software server (https://software.drexel.edu) within the present quarter. Currently, IRT is testing these applications and would welcome any feedback you might have about them. Please email consult@drexel.edu if you are already exploring these applications and would like to offer us your thoughts!

4. New Version of MATLAB Available

Faculty, staff, and students can now download the new version of MATLAB, 2010b, from the software server at https://software.drexel.edu. Choose from the Windows 32-bit, Windows 64-bit, Mac, or Linux versions.

If you have any questions or concerns, contact the IRT Help Desk at consult@drexel.edu or 215-895-2020.

5. Adobe Acrobat X Pro Announced

Adobe has recently announced the release of Acrobat X Pro. This newest version of Acrobat Pro will be available for free download on Drexel's software server (https://software.drexel.edu) in November.

If you have any questions about Acrobat X Pro, please contact the IRT Help Desk at consult@drexel.edu or 215-895-2020.

6. Mac Workshop on "Scripting and Automation" Rescheduled for December 2

The Mac workshop on "Scripting and Automation" has been rescheduled for Thursday, December 2, from 10:00 am - 11:30 am in Korman 116. Presented by Michael Wolk, Apple Senior Systems Engineer, the workshop will demonstrate how to use Mac OS X to automate common tasks such as renaming files and resizing images. A few spots are still available! To sign up, email olt@drexel.edu.

7. Camtasia for Faculty and Staff

Camtasia, a popular screen capture program produced by TechSmith, is available to all full-time faculty and staff through IRT. To obtain a copy of the Camtasia software, faculty and staff are required to attend a Camtasia workshop offered by the Online Learning Team.

Note: "Desktop and Presentation Recording: Camtasia Relay" is a prerequisite for both "Recording and Editing with Camtasia Studio for Windows" and "Recording and Editing with Camtasia for Mac."

The next Camtasia sessions will be as follows:

  • Desktop and Presentation Recording: Camtasia Relay
    Thursday, November 4, 10:00 am to 11:00 am

  • Recording and Editing with Camtasia Studio for Windows
    Thursday, November 11, from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm

  • Recording and Editing with Camtasia for Mac
    Monday, November 15, from 10:00 am – noon

All training sessions will be held in room 116 of the Korman Center (off the Quad on Drexel's Main Campus, 33rd Street between Market and Chestnut Streets). To see the full workshop schedule, visit IRT's Workshops page at http://www.drexel.edu/irt/help/workshops.

If you have any questions about obtaining a copy of Camtasia, or to sign up for a training session, please contact the Online Learning Team at olt@drexel.edu.

8. Accessibility Series: Using the Ease of Access Center in Windows

Microsoft's Windows 7 offers many helpful features for accessibility, one of which is the Ease of Access Center. The Ease of Access Center allows you to modify accessibility settings for applications, your mouse, and your keyboard.

To visit the Ease of Access Center and have Windows suggest accessibility options that might be helpful to you, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Start Menu, then click Control Panel > Ease of Access > Ease of Access Center.
  2. Click "Get recommendations to make your computer easier to use."

For more information about how to modify accessibility settings, see http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/introducing-accessibility-in-windows.

Look for more accessibility tips in future Tech Update issues!

Tips & Tricks

Tips & Tricks are helpful articles that address a variety of Windows and Mac applications. Click on one of the links below to view the full article:

Finding Words on a Web Page
Customizing the Quick Access Toolbar in Office 2007
Filtering in Excel 2007
Add Slide Numbers in PowerPoint 2007
Empty Deleted Items Folder When Exiting Outlook 2007
Turn Off Full Screen Reading View in Word 2007

News & Notes from the Online Learning Team

15. Limitation of Assignment Cutoff Date in Bb Vista

Before the cutoff date of a Bb Vista assignment, instructors can return comments to students without a grade by selecting "Return to Student for further editing." However, once the assignment cutoff date has passed, this option disappears. To make the option reappear, simply extend the cutoff date to a future date/time (perhaps the end of term).

If you have any questions about extending the cutoff date or the Bb Vista assignment tool, contact the Online Learning Team at olt@drexel.edu or 215-895-1224.

16. Bb Vista's Power View Feature

The fastest and easiest way to reorganize elements on a content page in Bb Vista is to use Power View:

  1. To access Power View: From the "Build" tab, click the "Page Options" button in the upper right-hand corner of the screen, and then click "Go to Power View."

  2. Check the box(es) next to the item(s) you want to move.

  3. Click the left-most icon in the row above or below which you would like to move the item(s).

  4. Click "Move Selected Items Above" or "Move Selected Items Below."

Note: Once you activate Power View, you will remain in that mode until you click on the "Page Options" button and select "Go to Basic View."

17. Upload a Photo to Your Bb Vista Profile!

To publish a photo of yourself in your Bb Vista profile:

  1. Go to your Bb Vista Home page.

  2. Click on the "My Settings" link in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

  3. Click the "Edit Profile" button.

  4. Click the "Browse" button to search for an existing photo. Then click "My Computer," browse to the photo, and click "Open."

  5. Click the "Save" button.

Note: The optimal size for your photo is 320 by 240 pixels. Digital cameras generally save very large images. To shrink a large photo, you can use software you already own (such as Paint under Accessories in the Start Menu), or one of these free online services: Flickr (http://www.flickr.com), Picasa (http://picasa.google.com), Microsoft's Image Resizer for Windows XP (free download at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/learnmore/tips/eschelman2.mspx), or the Image Resizer PowerToy Clone for non-XP Windows systems (free download at http://sourceforge.net/projects/phototoysclone).

18. Clean Up Your Bb Vista Course List!

Are your fall courses difficult to find on your Bb Vista course list? You can hide previous courses and/or move your fall courses to the top of the list in the "Edit Course List" screen.

To access the "Edit Course List" screen, click the pencil icon in the upper right-hand corner of the Course List channel on your Bb Vista Home page. Then, follow these instructions to hide and/or move your course(s).

To hide courses one-by-one:

  1. Any course with a "Hide Link" button next to it is currently showing; to hide it, toggle the button to "Show Link."

To hide several courses at once:

  1. Place a checkmark in the boxes to the left of the course names.
  2. Click the "Hide" button at the bottom of the screen.
  3. Click "OK."

To move one or more courses up or down in the list:

  1. Place a checkmark in the box(es) to the left of the course name(s).
  2. Click the left-most icon in the row above or below which you would like to move the course(s).
  3. Click "Move Selected Above" or "Move Selected Below."

To return to Bb Vista Home, click the "Bb Vista Home" tab in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.

19. Sign Up for OLT Workshops

The Online Learning Team conducts training sessions on Blackboard (Bb) Vista, Camtasia, DragonDrop, Dreamweaver, Mac OS X, Respondus, SharePoint, Snap, and Wimba Classroom. In addition, several brown bag lunches and workshops on technology products of interest (Microsoft Windows 7, Office 2010, PowerPoint, GIMP, Audacity, etc.) are held each month. These training sessions are open to members of Drexel's community as well as the general public.

To reserve a spot at any of these workshops, email us at olt@drexel.edu with your name, institution (if other than Drexel), contact information, and the name of the workshop(s) you would like to attend.

Below is a sampling of workshops taking place in November:

  • Desktop and Presentation Recording: Camtasia Relay
    Thursday, November 4, 10:00 am – 11:00 am

  • Bb Vista Full Day Workshop
    Wednesday, November 10, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

  • DragonDrop Basic Training
    Thursday, November 18, 10:00 am – 11:30 am

  • Dreamweaver Intermediate
    Thursday, November 18, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

  • Turnitin: More than Plagiarism Detection
    Monday, November 22, noon – 2:00 pm

Visit our Web site at http://www.drexel.edu/IRT/help/workshops for our complete training schedule and workshop descriptions. Unless otherwise noted, all training sessions will be held in room 116 of the Korman Center (off the Quad on Drexel's Main Campus, 33rd Street between Market and Chestnut Streets).